Books Of Condolences To Open For Sir Terry Wogan

Books of condolences will be opened for Sir Terry Wogan today in Limerick, the city where he grew up.

The city’s mayor, Liam Galvin, said it would give the people of Limerick the chance to pay their respects to “a true son of Limerick” and “a broadcasting institution”.

He said: “These Books of Condolences afford Limerick people at home and abroad the opportunity to convey their sympathies to the family of the late Terry Wogan, a true son of Limerick and a broadcasting institution whose passing will be mourned by millions.

“Despite his fame and the fact that he was based in the UK throughout much of his career, Sir Terry often returned home to Limerick and never missed an opportunity on radio or TV to speak about his Limerick roots.

“The Council honoured him with the title of Freeman of Limerick in 2007, which I know was a title that meant very much to him and his family.”

Video:Eamonn Holmes: Wogan Was A Legend

Sir Terry, renowned for his work on Radio 2’s breakfast show and Children In Need, lost his “short but brave battle with cancer” on Sunday aged 77, his family said.

Sir Terry had last appeared on the airwaves at the beginning of November, when he hosted a show for Radio 2.

Later that month, he pulled out of Children In Need for health reasons.

His colleagues at the BBC were among the first to praise Sir Terry – with his successor as host of Radio 2’s breakfast show, Chris Evans, tweeting: “We are all so terribly sad upon hearing of the passing of Terry. I can’t put into words how the whole Radio 2 family is feeling.

Video:Colleagues Pay Tribute To Wogan

“Our most heartfelt thoughts go out to Helen, Mark, Alan, Katherine and Vanessa. To many of us Terry was Radio 2. We still can’t believe it.”

Fellow presenter Jeremy Vine shared this story about Sir Terry: “Someone asked him how many listeners he had. Instead of answering nine million, which would have been accurate, he said: ‘Only one.’

“And it was this approach that made him one of the greatest broadcasters this country has ever seen.”

Sir Bruce Forsyth said: “Terry was such a great broadcaster and part of our lives for so many years. He will be much missed.”

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Gallery: Terry Wogan’s Life In Pictures

Sir Terry was one of the most skilled, popular and enduring broadcasters of his generation, with more than 40 years at the top of his profession. His BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, with his velvet voice and his wry, rambling thoughts on life, achieved the UK’s biggest and most loyal audience. Pic: Sir Terry cavorts with presenter Eamon Andrews in 1978

Millions of early-morning listeners tuned in to hear his gentle and witty commentary on the affairs of the day, both trivial and momentous. Pic: Sir Terry with American soap star Larry Hagman in 1980, who played JR in ‘Dallas’. At the time, ‘Who Shot JR?’ was the burning question on the lips of a nation of soap addicts